


Summer Rivalries

by ShatteredSwallowtail



Series: 100 Points In Time [4]
Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 05:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20558687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShatteredSwallowtail/pseuds/ShatteredSwallowtail





	Summer Rivalries

It was really what could be called a "typical" day. Nice, even. A welcome break from lives of Hollow-hunting and captaining and all of those other boring, mind-numbingly irritating things that too-often made up adult life. The only disappointing part was that they'd all but had to steal this sort of time.

_But it's worth it..._

And indeed, it had been worth it, or at least that's what Rukia thought. Worth it to sneakily avoid her brother when she knew perfectly well that he was expecting them to be in the office, whispering the girls into silence -- she didn't have to do it with Kaien, he seemed to already know -- and suppressing giggles as the 5 of them had snuck out the back window of Ichigo's office to play hooky.

Thankfully, the kids had seemed to think it the most marvelous game and had been eager to help out and play along. Which made it all that easier to slip through the Senkaimon and just go _home_ for a bit. Even if they'd decided to vacate the house and instead spend their purloined afternoon enjoying the fresh summer breeze with a picnic basket.

She'd made Ichigo carry it, of course, had even ground her heel into the top of his foot when he initially balked and stated that if he had to eat her cooking it was just plain cruel of her to make him work as well. Which had devolved into one of their usual arguements. That she had won, the way she generally always won them. She'd cheated, of course, but that was entirely beside the point and the end result had been their family on the hill, under the tree.

And... it had just been _nice_. A nice little dose of "normal" in their lives as she'd curled up leaning against his side and peeled apples for the kids, such a deliciously mundane and yet meaningful time where she got to forget the shinigami and all the responsibilities that came with it and just pretend that they were all normal everyday people, just parents and children having an outing.

And then things had taken another turn, when Ishida and Inoue had shown up when they were midway through their meal, Souken tagging along behind them, his little glasses a mimicry of his father's. And their family outing had become more than that, had turned into an opportunity to catch up and revel in time spent with friends, even though she knew that the two men would never admit it.

_Too stubborn, both of them._

Which only proved itself as she caught Ichigo's shift in position out of the corner of her eye as his mouth turned up into a smug grin, eyes still focusd on where Souken had been goaded -- or perhaps dragged -- into some sort of contest with Kaien, though the bespectacled little boy didn't seem that thrilled with the idea. Her own eyebrow raised slightly, wondering what was going on, and then she had to keep from smacking a hand to her forehead with a groan as she saw Ichigo's elbow nudge Ishida in the ribs as he leaned over, taking a sip from his drink.

"Oi. Ishida. My kid's better than yours."

Oh god. Not that. It was just so... so juvenile, though a sarcastic part of her mind remarked how that was exactly why it didn't surprise her at all for it to be Ichigo saying it. 7 -- or was it 8? -- years from that night she'd come waltzing through his window and the orange-head that she'd chosen to knit her life too was just as much a thickhead as he'd always been. At least, he was in her opinion. Sighing, she mentally thanked whatever gods or spirits that might be listening that Ishida had more sense then to be goaded thusly. And was rewarded as the Quincy stiffened slightly and pushed glasses further up his nose with a roll of his eyes and a condescending look at Ichigo.

"That is perhaps the most juvenile and idiotic thing that I have ever heard you say, Kurosaki. And certainly not at all relevant as well as being without point."

She hadn't really expected him to stop, afterall Ichigo wasn't one to listen to much of anything else, but she hoped maybe this time logic just might over-ride idiocy. Only... she wasn't that lucky. Smug grin only growing wider, he shook his head and nudged Ishida again before leaning back against the tree trunk.

"Heh, you just don't wanna admit that my kid's better than yours."

Bristling slightly, Ishida leveled a cool glare in Ichigo's direction. This was ridiculous, and besides that it was completely false to boot. Which was precisely what he told Kurosaki.

"What I do and do not wish to 'admit' is hardly any concern of yours, and I hardly think it fitting that you need to try and disguise your own inadequacies by trumpeting your son's virtues. Especially with such an obviously false statement."

She could have hit them. BOTH of them, not just the one she'd have to deal with later when he wanted to gripe.

_Dammit Ishida, couldn't you have just kept quiet? You gave him a damn opening._

Which was exactly what happened as Ichigo's grin turned even wider.

"Yeah, only... it's not."

Sighing in aggravation, she turned her attention back to the apple she had been peeling for Hisana, growling under her breath as she listened to the exchanges between the two get more heated. Idiots, both of them. And even bigger idiots than she'd thought, as she watched Ichigo's eyebrows knit together in a scowl as he leaned in, trying to intimidate.

"My kid's way better than yours. You just don't want to admit it."

Ishida readjusted his glasses with a frown.

"Of course not. Why would I admit to something that is so obviously untrue?"

This wasn't going to end well. Not given the way those two usually clashed. But for now, she wouldn't worry about it. She could break it up later.

"Rukia-san, are they...?"

Inoue, settling back down with Hanako cradled in her arms, glancing to where the Quincy and the Shinigami were now glaring at each other with looks that could have cut glass, each stubbornly refusing to yield. Rolling her eyes with a frustrated sigh, she nodded. Yes, yes they were in fact having an arguement over something like that.

"Yes Inoue, they are. They are."


End file.
